Students to get 761 more rooms is Sydney

A vacant building formerly used to house nurses at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in inner Sydney will be upgraded and converted into student accommodation.

The proposal is another response to the nationwide shortage of student accommodation.

More than $33 million will be spent modernising the 12-level Queen Mary Building, at the corner of Church and Gross streets, Camperdown. The building will be transformed into 720 single and 41 double bedrooms, holding a total 801 beds, plans from the NSW Health Department’s health infrastructure division show.

The building has been vacant since 2005.

The hospital precinct neighbours Sydney University, which has about 45,000 students, and has transport links to other university and TAFE campuses. Two ground-floor retail tenancies will also be added to the Camperdown building, which was built in the 1950s.

Dozens of communal lounge areas, kitchens and laundries, 30 car-parking spaces and storage for 410 bicycles will also be provided.

The director-general of the NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure, Sam Haddad, has signed off on the project as a compatible use for the site.

The plans are now on exhibition through the City of Sydney.

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Sydney University is also planning an additional student accommodation facility, in conjunction with new educational facilities in the Abercrombie Street Precinct in nearby Darlington, and is looking for additional space to build further units.

A widespread shortage of student housing has meant universities and developers are adopting innovative methods of accommodating students.

The University of Wollongong recently agreed to buy the Hotel Ibis in the regional city from the Accor Group.

The purchase occurred after the university was forced to turn away students due to a lack of housing.

The university has also flagged interest in housing students in the GPT Group’s West Keira development, in the city centre.